Judge Denies Gag Order In Zimmerman Case

Attorneys Appear In Court Friday Morning

Attorneys for George Zimmerman, the prosecution and the media appeared in front of a judge in Seminole County Friday morning.

Judge Ken Lester heard many issues from all sides involved in the second-degree murder trial including gag orders, sealing of case information and bond money.

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The state began the hearing asking for a gag order for Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara.

Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda said O'Mara had been talking about the facts of the case to the media. O'Mara argued that he hasn't seen any of the evidence so he can't be talking about it and he can't stand mute because the case is known throughout the world.

Lester ruled that there would be no gag order and commended O'Mara for tampering down the emotions in the case.

Attorneys for the media were on hand to argue that the avenues of communication stay open between them, the state and the defense.

Lester said he would not seal any information unless the attorneys for Zimmerman or the state filed a motion asking to do so, including names and addresses of witnesses.

Each side agreed that it is concerned about the safety and anonymity of the witnesses in the case. Lester said he would approach the information on a case by case basis.

Lester did make a point to state that any information dealing with security issues would not be made public to the media.

O'Mara did make the court aware of the significant amount of money that was donated to Zimmerman on his website, www.therealgeorgezimmerman.com. The website has since been shut down by O'Mara.

O'Mara told the court he was not aware of the $200,000 when the family spoke April 20. He went on to say that the family also didn't know the money was available to them when they testified about their finances.

"They could easily have made a maneuver to try and get to that money but they didn't," said O'Mara. "That proves they were not holding or hiding anything with this money because they did not use it."

Trayvon Martin's family attorney Benjamin Crump said he intended to ask the judge to revoke Zimmerman's bond after new information surfaced about the Zimmerman's finances.

"We believe he deceived the parents. He deceived the court and his bond should be revoked," said Crump.

De la Rionda told Lester the new information about the finances changes Zimmerman's circumstances, and de la Rionda asked Lester to raise Zimmerman's bond.

"Family members represented they had no money," said De la Rionda. "Whether they intentionally did that or not I don't know and I would ask the court to consider possibly raising the bond."

Lester said he would not rule on the bond issue until O'Mara provided information about when the PayPal account was opened, who had control over it, and when the transactions were made.

O'Mara told him the money is now in a trust fund that only he controls and will figure out how to administer the money, but was quick to point out Zimmerman does not have control over it.

Lester told O'Mara to provide the information about the account to the state.

Zimmerman did not attend the hearing.

The next court date is May 8, but O'Mara said he nor Zimmerman would attend. Lester said the date is to set up for trial.

Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Martin.